Artikelen

Some 25 years ago, a fragment of a Romanesque foliage capital came to light in Thesinge, a few miles north-east of the city of Groningen in the northern Netherlands. It must once have decorated the Benedictine nuns’ abbey Germania. After the Reformation the chancel was adapted, albeit in a reduced shape, to serve as the Protestant church of Thesinge. This building can be dated to the middle of the thirteenth century. Thanks to excavations in 1973 and 1974 we know the general appearance of this church: it was more than forty metres long and had a transept. Foundations on the east side of the crossing are strong indications for a rood loft, which, on the basis of a somewhat vague reference in a seventeenth-century report, may even have survived until nave and transept were finally taken down in 1786. Traces in the masonry of the north wall of the chancel indicate that the conventual buildings were on this side. The rood loft thus separated the nuns’ choir form the nave and transept which served as parish church for the locals. The most logical place for our capital is somewhere in this rood loft, most likely on one of the two pilasters flanking the central passage. Though the capital is damaged, enough survives to ascertain a high quality of craftsmanship, rather unusual for this region. The stone is typical of the quarries in the Baumberge near Münster in Westphalia. Stylistically too, the capital is very close to those produced in Münster in the second quarter of the thirteenth century. Therefore it is most likely that we are dealing with a ready made imported capital here. This is a further confirmation of the importance of Westphalian sacred architecture for late Romanesque church building on both sides of the Ems estuary. The importation of sculpture from Münster is well documented for the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The Thesinge capital now strongly suggests that such importation has a much longer history.

Some 25 years ago, a fragment of a Romanesque foliage capital came to light in Thesinge, a few miles north-east of the city of Groningen in the northern Netherlands. It must once have decorated the Benedictine nuns’ abbey Germania. After the Reformation the chancel was adapted, albeit in a reduced shape, to serve as the Protestant church of Thesinge. This building can be dated to the middle of the thirteenth century. Thanks to excavations in 1973 and 1974 we know the general appearance of this church: it was more than forty metres long and had a transept. Foundations on the east side of the crossing are strong indications for a rood loft, which, on the basis of a somewhat vague reference in a seventeenth-century report, may even have survived until nave and transept were finally taken down in 1786. Traces in the masonry of the north wall of the chancel indicate that the conventual buildings were on this side. The rood loft thus separated the nuns’ choir form the nave and...

Some 25 years ago, a fragment of a Romanesque foliage capital came to light in Thesinge, a few miles north-east of the city of Groningen in the northern Netherlands. It must once have decorated the Benedictine nuns’ abbey Germania. After the Reformation the chancel was adapted, albeit in a...

In the world of Vitruvianism the study of historical architecture was completely different from what one would expect. What historiographers wanted to know had less to do with the reconstruction of a development than with reconstructing a pure beginning. All this with as a starting point the ten books on architecture written by the Roman Vitruvius in the first century BC. Writers of treatises such as Leon Battista Alberti and Sebastiano Serlio were not much interested in the history and historical development of ancient architecture, but rather in recovering the correct rules. Their manuals were lessons in building according to the directions of the classics. Although the Cours d’ Architecture by Jacques-François Blondel, of which the first part appeared in 1771, does offer a retrospective of the past, everything that does not fit in with the line leading towards his own time and particularly his own work is left out of consideration. The great exception to this tradition is Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach with his Entwurff Einer Historischen Architectur from 1721. This is the first illustrated description of architecture in all parts of the world. In addition, the book offers a survey of the studies available at that time. It is not clear why he did not include any reference to Gothic or Renaissance architecture, unless he meant his book to be a Wunderkammer in book form. It is remarkable that someone like Sir Christopher Wren, who had also studied the history of architecture, was so much less well-read than Fischer von Erlach. From a small tour of the writers on historical architecture between 1450 and 1800 it is obvious once again that this field of study could only develop after the limitations of Vitruvianism had been cleared away.

In the world of Vitruvianism the study of historical architecture was completely different from what one would expect. What historiographers wanted to know had less to do with the reconstruction of a development than with reconstructing a pure beginning. All this with as a starting point the ten books on architecture written by the Roman Vitruvius in the first century BC. Writers of treatises such as Leon Battista Alberti and Sebastiano Serlio were not much interested in the history and historical development of ancient architecture, but rather in recovering the correct rules. Their manuals were lessons in building according to the directions of the classics. Although the Cours d’ Architecture by Jacques-François Blondel, of which the first part appeared in 1771, does offer a retrospective of the past, everything that does not fit in with the line leading towards his own time and particularly his own work is left out of consideration. The great exception to this tradition is...

In the world of Vitruvianism the study of historical architecture was completely different from what one would expect. What historiographers wanted to know had less to do with the reconstruction of a development than with reconstructing a pure beginning. All this with as a starting point the...

The Carthusian monastery in Roermond, founded in 1376 and closed in 1783, is the best preserved Carthusian monastery in the Netherlands, in spite of two fires, looting, closure and partial demolition that took their toll. This article concentrates on decorations in the stucco work applied in the 18th century, at a time when this part of the Netherlands was under Austrian sovereign rule. The stucco ceiling in the refectory dates from 1748 and is divided into four richly decorated sections by (older) secondary beams. Central are the initials MAR, IHS, IOHS, referring to Mary, Jesus and John the Baptist. This combination dates back to an older tradition under the influence of Bernardino of Siena, but there are also more recent examples of it, applied indoors by Roman Catholics.

On the ceiling in the refectory of the Roermond Carthusian monastery there is an abundance of Christian symbolism in the form of stylized animals and plants. Centrally above the eastern entrance there is a dove (the Holy Spirit) with halo in the first section, provided with the Maria monogram, followed by the section with IHS, the Christ monogram. In the third section John the Baptist follows in monogram and with his as well as his ‘opponent’ Salomé’s face. In the fourth section the year 1748 was applied in leaf figures and above the western door there is a pelican feeding its young with the blood from its own breast. This is a reference to Christ’s sacrifice of the cross. The monastic church has stucco vaults dating from 1759. After the closure of the Roermond monastery, the main altar made by F.X. Bader in 1769 was moved to the abbey of Thorn, also situated in the Netherlands province of Limburg. The tabernacle of the main altar is crowned by a pelican, making a connection between the body of Christ and his death on the cross, the Last Supper, and the celebration of the Eucharist, as also depicted symbolically in the fourth section of the ceiling in the refectory.

The Carthusian monastery in Roermond, founded in 1376 and closed in 1783, is the best preserved Carthusian monastery in the Netherlands, in spite of two fires, looting, closure and partial demolition that took their toll. This article concentrates on decorations in the stucco work applied in the 18th century, at a time when this part of the Netherlands was under Austrian sovereign rule. The stucco ceiling in the refectory dates from 1748 and is divided into four richly decorated sections by (older) secondary beams. Central are the initials MAR, IHS, IOHS, referring to Mary, Jesus and John the Baptist. This combination dates back to an older tradition under the influence of Bernardino of Siena, but there are also more recent examples of it, applied indoors by Roman Catholics.

On the ceiling in the refectory of the Roermond Carthusian monastery there is an abundance of Christian symbolism in the form of stylized animals and plants. Centrally above the eastern entrance there...

The Carthusian monastery in Roermond, founded in 1376 and closed in 1783, is the best preserved Carthusian monastery in the Netherlands, in spite of two fires, looting, closure and partial demolition that took their toll. This article concentrates on decorations in the stucco work applied in...